HMS ''D4'' was a

British D-class submarine The D-class submarine was the Royal Navy's first class of submarines capable of operating significantly beyond coastal waters. They were also the first boats to be fitted with wireless transmitters. Ten were laid down between 1907 and 1910, tho ...

built by

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...

, Barrow. ''D4'' was laid down on 24 February 1910, launched 27 May 1911 and was commissioned on 29 November 1911. She was the first submarine to be fitted with a gun for offensive use. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, on 22 June 1915, ''D4'' found the stranded German

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

''Bielefeld'' in the

Heligoland Bight The Heligoland Bight, also known as Helgoland Bight, (, ) is a bay which forms the southern part of the German Bight, itself a bay of the North Sea, located at the mouth of the Elbe river. The Heligoland Bight extends from the mouth of the Elb ...

off

Juist Juist (; ) is an island and municipality in the district of Aurich (district), Aurich in Lower Saxony in Germany. The island is one of seven East Frisian Islands at the edge of the Lower Saxony, Lower Saxon Wadden Sea in the southern North Sea. It ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, guarded by a German

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

. ''D4''′s

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

decided to attack the destroyer first, but the

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

''D4'' fired missed. The alerted destroyer made several runs over ''D4'', which was submerged in water only deep, in an attempt to ram her, but did not succeed and eventually left the scene. ''D4'' then surfaced and sank ''Bielefeld''. Although the Germans salvaged ''Bielefeld'', she did not go back into naval service and instead was returned to her pre-war civilian owners. Later in her career, ''D4'' torpedoed ''UB-72'' on 12 May 1918. At 04:30 that day, whilst on patrol approximately midway between Guernsey and Portland Bill, ''D4'' observed ''UB-72'' on the surface travelling in a southerly direction some two miles distant. Five minutes later Lt Claud Barry, in command of ''D4'', saw ''UB-72'', obviously unaware of the British boat's presence, alter course so that the U-boat appeared to be approaching ''D4''. In order that his presence should not be detected Lt Barry lowered his periscope for a few minutes but at 0443 ''D4''′s periscope was raised to reveal ''UB-72'' steering an easterly course. A few minutes later ''UB-72'' was on the British boat's port side and Barry waited until the U-boat came on to his sights. At 0450 Lt Barry fired a torpedo from the target and after lowering the periscope for a few moments he released a second one. Ten seconds later the crew of ''D4'' heard an explosion and felt a violent concussion. Barry brought his boat to the surface and headed towards three men swimming in a patch of oil. He succeeded in picking up these men, who were the only survivors of ''UB-72''′s crew of three officers and thirty-one men. ''D4'' was decommissioned in 1919 and was then sold on 17 December 1921 to H Pounds, Portsmouth.

Citations

References

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External links

MaritimeQuest HMS D-4 Pages
{{DEFAULTSORT:D04 British D-class submarines Royal Navy ship names 1911 ships Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness